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A glut of birdies and eagles at Carton House in the first round of the Irish Open helped raise over €15,000 from the Irish Open Birdie Pledge after the first round action in County Kildare.

The Tour Players Foundation (TPF), the Mallaghan Family – the venue owners - and a private donor, have joined forced to give €10 per birdie, €20 per eagle and €50 per albatross during the four tournament rounds. And with 493 birdies and seven eagles being recorded in a superb opening day at Carton House, a total of €15,210 was raised for the charity.

As a result of the Birdie Pledge and an initiative on Wednesday, in which the professionals in the Pro-Am donaterd their playing fees to RESPECT Ireland, almost €30,000 has so far been raised for the charity, which supports people of all ages with intellectual disabilities in the Dublin area.

With something in the region of 1600 birdies expected over the four rounds of the championship, around €50,000 is expected to be generated for RESPECT Ireland.

David Park, Charity Executive of The European Tour, said: “Despite the challenging conditions, it was great to see such a large number of birdies made by the players and fantastic that that the good scoring has generated over €15,000 already.

“With an improved weather forcecast over the next few days, we are confident that we can reach our target of raising around €50,000 for such a worthwhile cause.”

In addition to the on course activities, spectators are also making a huge contribution with €1 per Official Programme and Drawsheet sold also being donated to RESPECT Ireland.